Improved buckle



*1a-Numan `STIATES BENJAMIN s. LAWSON, Yor NEW `YORK, fN.

IMPROVED BUCKLE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,569, dated July 4,1865.

T0 all whom ttf/nay concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN S. LAWSON, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles forSkates and other Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a side view of a buckle made according to my invention,showing also astrap with which it may beused. Fig. 2 is the buckle inplan view. Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon the line w of Fig. 2. j i

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention consists in providing supplementary bearings for thejournals of the tongue of the buckle, which bearings are behind thebearings which hold the said journals when the buckleis in use, and areseparated therefrom by a ridge, over which thejournals pass when thejournals are to be moved from one to the other. The effect of thisconstruction is to enable the ton gue to recede from the front of thebuckle, where the bite is made on the strap, thereby releasing the strapwithout difficulty, and without requiring that it be first pulled outfrom the loop of the buckle.

A designates a strap whose xed end is to be secured to a loop, It, ofthe tongue of the buckle. The whole buckle comprises only two parts-theframe B and the tongue G. The

frame is open, being quadrangular in shape. when seen in plan view, itssides g and f being the front and rear of the buckle, and its other`.limb c being the uppermost and the longest b being the lowermost, itsplace being in the lower angle of the frame. The letter cl designatesthe ridg ewhich separates the two limbs.

of the frame.

The breadth of the limbs of the slot c is to be such as to allow thejournals a of the tongue to move freely along them. C is the tongue ofthe buckle. It consists of a flat piece with a loop, h, cut in its rearend, iu which the fixed end of a strap is to be secured, and withjournais a on each side, which are placed in such positions as make thatpart of the tongue which extends from them toward the part g of theframe almost equal to the distance between the end of the limbs c of theslots and thefront of the frame, so that when the journals of the ytongue are in the bearings formed in the ends of the limb c the, end ofthe tongue will bite the strap Abetween itself and the front end, g,When the journals are in the bearings formed in the ends of the limbs bthe tongue is withdrawnfrom the end g of the frame and it ceases to bitethe strap.

It is evident from this construction. that when the journals of thetongue are in the limbs c and the tongue has clamped the strap it isonly necessary to bring the journals down into the limbs b in order tolet the tongue recede and release the strap( In order to do this thejournals a must pass the ridges d, which separate between the limbs. Iaccomplish this by means of the tail or free end of the strap, which ispassed beneath the loop end f of the frame and above the tongue when thebuckle is in use. The end fof the frame is bent upward from the line ofthe front part of the buckle, and it extends, as is seen inFig.1,in ornearly in the direction of the limb c ofthe slot, so that .when the tailof the strap is drawnup ward against the part f of the frame that partof the frame is lifted and drawn away from the tongue, and the journalsof the tongue are .brought into the lower and longer limb, b,

Athereby releasing the strap by withdrawing the end of the tongue fromthe front g of the frame. Solong as the ends of the upper limbs, c, ofthe slots are in the direction of the pull ou the strap the journals ofthe tongue will remain therein, being kept from accidental displacementby the projecting angle or ridge d;

but when the upper slot is drawn away from the direction of the pull thejournals fall or slip over the ridge into the longer slot l, and

the tongue yields to the pull and is drawn vent its front part fromfalling below the front 2. So constructing a buckle as that its tongueofthe frame of the buckle. can be loosened from the strap by lifting theI claim as new and desire to secure by Lethinder end of the buckle,substantially as deters Patentscribed.

1. In buckles for fastening skates, and for other uses, placing thejournals of the Vtongue BENJAMIN S' LAWSON' in openings in theframe ofthe buckle of such Witnesses: form as that said journals can be shiftedfrom M. M. LIVINGSTON,

their bearings, substantially as described. C. L. TOPLIFF.

